A Bleeding Heart for Two
by TheOrderOfTheAnonymousCoyote
Summary: He didn't arrive on time, and they got separated. Then it appeared. In the end, one heart was lost, and another was torn between two beings. In another place and time, a young cat was tortured and experimented on, all for the glory of science, but what had they unleashed? And finally, is the story of the young redhead, born with a monster inside her, now awake, and hungry.
1. Mistakes

A Bleeding Heart for Two

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

 _Today's the day_ She thought with innocent conviction as she pulled a red wagon carrying a small precious cargo.

 _I'm going to get my family back together_.

The young girl of only 8, with bright blonde hair, and deep violet eyes, marched on with a determined look on her face.

On one more older, and more mature, it would have probably been more impressive, but on the young naive girl, it was simply adorable. A look that expressed just how much confidence she had in the success of her idea, of her "mission". It showed the unbridled excitement she had as she walked on to what she was sure was going to be the answer to all her problems.

Not hours before, the young girl had found pictures and even a few letters explaining to her that she had another mother, or, well, her real one. The one she knew and loved had died a little over a year ago, and those still stung deeply. But the discovery that she had another one, one that was alive, made her confident that all she had to do was find her, and she could have a happy family again. A family of her, her father, and…

Her sister.

Speaking of her dearest little sister, the young girl turned back to glance at the precious cargo in the wagon. The precious cargo being her younger sister by two years. They looked nothing alike, what with her younger sister's black and crimson locks and silver eyes, but the blonde was too young to fully understand the implications of all that, nor did she truly care.

The young girl in the wagon, Ruby, was her baby sister, and she would do anything to protect her, to keep her safe. That's what big sisters did after all. Look after their younger siblings. And that's what she was doing right now, trying to make her little sister smile again by giving her another mother. It was all going to end with smiles and happiness, with everything going back to the way it should.

Still, filled with a child's confidence and ignorance of the world around her, she continued on, deeper and deeper into the forest where the picture she found led. The path to the house in the picture was well worn, and wound it's way through the forest. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot as she hummed cheerfully to herself the only sounds reaching her ears. Overhead the sky was dark and cloudy, casting a great shadow over the forest, and holding a trembling sense of foreboding, as if it was the only witness to what this girl was doing, and knew what lay down that path she walked.

But, unfortunate as it was, the sky wasn't the only witness to this young girl's pilgrimage. Something the pure young girl would soon discover for herself.

With each step she took toward the inevitable end, she came ever closer to discovering a truth that wasn't meant for one so young.

Soon, she arrived at her destination.

The house lay before her. It was bright, happy, and lively. Warm, inviting, light shining through the windows. The path to the front door paved with large white stepping stones, and fountain on the patio off to the side filled with crystalline water.

At least, that's how it was in the picture.

But as the young girl put the picture down, she saw what it had become.

Dilapidated, and abandoned. Weeds grew from between the cracks in the pavement. The windows showed nothing but the dark emptiness that resided inside the house. The once filled fountain now dry, and empty.

And with that sight, the young girl's dreams began to die.

She began to realize that there was no one waiting here for her. That this wasn't the magic cure that was going to fix her family.

This was all pointless She thought, tears forming in her eyes as it all sunk in. There's nothing for me here.

But, here, she was mistaken.

In fact, there was a point to all of this, there was something waiting for her here. And that something, was about to makes itself known to her.

As she began to sob, her sadness in her soul poured out of her. What she didn't know, couldn't know, was something out there felt it, tasted it, and reveled in the taste of despair coming from her. It had known she was there, and it had taken interest in her. How could it not, she was a bright beacon of light in the darkness of the forest. But now, her light soured and twisted with despair.

And the darkness saw its chance to swallow the light.

GRRR

A growl echoed out from around her, causing her to open her eyes and look around.

And she soon wished she hadn't.

Numerous large forms emerged from the forest around, each one towering over her, their pitch black fur blending in completely with the shadows around them. Their hungry red eyes stood out in the darkness, all of them locked onto the bright blond girl. They somewhat resembled bipedal wolves, though they each wore bone white masks with red marking on their heads, as well as having white spikes of bone coming forth from their arms and back.

 _No_...She thought, her despair turning to terror. Though she might have been young, she was old enough to know what it was that stood before her. Soulless monsters of the darkness, who only sought to devour humanity.

 _Grimm_ She realized.

There was no hope of escape for her. They would surely chase her down, and there wasn't even the barest chance she could fight them off. They were going to eat her, tear her to pieces, and nobody was ever going to see her again.

She realized all of this, and as much as those thoughts horrified her, the ones that she had next struck her soul most of all.

 _...Ruby_ She thought, once again remembering her precious cargo. For a moment, she was happy that Ruby was still asleep, then she would be spared the horror of her inevitable grisly end.

But it was not to be.

"Yang?" A small, squeaky, and tired voice asked behind her.

Spinning around at the sound of her name, Yang was met with her little sister's large, confused, silver eyes, staring right back at her.

"Ruby?" She said back, speechless as horror took hold over all else.

"What's going on? Where are we?" She asked innocently.

But Yang couldn't answer, consumed with horror and regret as she was.

 _What have I done?_ She realized, knowing that she had failed in her duty as a big sister.

Instead of protecting her baby sister, she had pulled her to her death, all on her own. Ruby had no idea what was happening, she was asleep when Yang put her in the wagon. She had wanted to surprise her with their new mom. Not...this.

And now, due to her own impulsiveness, they were going to die. Her own death was one thing, and while she feared it with every fiber of her being, it was her own fault. She had done this to herself. But Ruby, on the other hand...that was all her fault. Ruby didn't deserve to die, not for her mistakes.

And with that, Yang remembered, she was supposed to protect her little sister.

 _No matter what_ She thought.

And with that, conviction and courage began to build within her. She knew she was going to die here. And she knew it was a long shot. But…

If it had even the slightest chance of working, if it gave her baby sister even a few more minutes of life, then Yang was going to take it.

So, as the Grimm slowly closed in from every angle, their claws twitching and mouths drooling in anticipation, Yang bent down, and picked up a loose rock from the once immaculate path under her feet. Steeling herself for what she was about to do, she gave one last look at her little sister, and said, "I'm sorry Ruby.".

And with those three words, Yang turned back around, braced herself, and threw the rock. The universe decided to grant her the smallest of mercies, and her aim was true, and the rock struck its mark. The hungry red eye of one of the Grimm around her.

It howled in rage, stunned by the blow. Using the opening, Yang ran past it, all the while shouting and yelling at them at the top of her lungs, trying to attract her attention. And it worked. The Grimm, were both distracted by the attention the young blonde was drawing to herself, and angered by her attack on them. So, with a loud howl amongst the pack, they all ran after her.

As Yang ran deep into the forest, never to be seen again, Ruby held out an outstretched hand, and could only whimper, "Yang." as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Her older sister had left her. She wasn't truly old enough to understand why she did it, not yet, but to her, her older sister had abandoned her. Now she was all alone.

Except...that wasn't quite true either.

While all the mindless young hounds of the pack had left, one had not. It wasn't young, nor mindless, like the others. No, this one was old, this one was ancient.

It dropped down from the tree it had perched itself in, landing gracefully with barely a sound. Still, Ruby noticed the action, and turned to see the being crouched on the ground. As it rose to its full height and slowly began to approach her, Ruby couldn't help but instinctively know the danger of this being.

It bore a vague, passing resemblance to the other Grimm, but this one was covered from head to toe in plates of alabaster white armor. Despite this, it moved silently and gracefully. It was as if shadows were flowing through the air like water in a river, carrying undeniable power with each fluid movement. It was taller, more streamlined, and lithe than the others.

It's long white claws stretching down to the ground, occasionally making a deep scratch in the earth beneath it's feet. It's armored white tail swished gracefully behind it. It's eyes, though...

It's eyes were something else.

They weren't the solid, hungry, red of the other Grimm. These were like twin crimson flames burning with a myriad of colors in it's eyes. They were deep, and entrancing, Not just filled with hunger and hate, but curiosity as well.

This creature was curious about the young, pure, soul before it. It had silver eyes, something it hadn't seen in quite a while. The Silver Eyed ones were dangerous, it knew that. But it had never encountered one so young, one with such a pure soul. It knew it would probably never get another chance like this again. No hunters or other humans were around to disturb it, none close enough anyway. It could sense a hunter making it's way in this direction at great speed, but it wouldn't be here for many minutes.

More than enough time for the Ancient Grimm to sate it's curiosity. So, eager to see what it tasted like, it grasped the silver eyed girl in one claw, holding her still while she struggled and whined. It stopped her struggling with a firm stare, it's gaze sending her into a dull trance, making her more open to what it was about to try and do.

So, without wasting anymore time, it raised its right claw, and plunged it into the young girl's chest.

But...it was...different...than how a normal Grimm would do it. No blood poured from her chest, no grisly sound of it's claws rending her body to pieces. No, instead the claw went inside her like sword plunging into a thick pool of tar. The Grimm's claw reached inside her, diving past her physical form, and reaching to the core of her being.

Her soul.

It grabbed hold, and began what it had done a thousand times before. It feasted on it. It drained her soul directly, feeding of it in a way only a being like it could. As it did, the young girl's body was rocked by convulsions.

 _Odd…_ The Grimm thought. Normally draining humans of their souls didn't prompt this kind of response, not unless they had a strong will. To see it happen from such a small girl was surprising. Still, it shook it off and continued.

Then, it all went wrong.

The girl's eyes flashed with silver light pouring into them, a new power filling her body. This new power ejected the Grimm from the young girls body, and sent searing pain coursing through its claw.

Still, as fast as it was, it wasn't fast enough.

As the Grimm held its claw in pain, wondering what had happened, it noticed something. Something...wrong. The thing that it had tried to consume was inside it, but not as it should be. It was alive within, moving inside the hollow shell of it's being. There was something now, where normally there was nothing but an empty hole.

Which meant there was nothing to oppose the intruder's existence.

The foreign entity within the Grimm latched on, having nowhere else to go, and began to fill the hole.

Feeling a new pain in it's claw, it looked at only, to feel something completely foreign to it. Something indicative of the changes already occurring within.

Horror, and fear.

It's claw was writhing, contorting into impossible positions. The bone white armor began to melt and coat it's ebony fur. It's claw began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller, its proportions changing as well. The changes spread up it's arm, and continued from there. Soon, the white on it's hand changed again, gaining color, flexibility, and becoming...skin.

It was a searing pain it had never felt before, not even in its most dangerous battles with humans. It felt like it's entire body was being ripped off, only to be replaced with another.

Unfortunately, that's almost exactly what happened.

* * *

 **Qrow pov**

With speed that would impress even the most skilled of hunters, Qrow wove through the depths of the forest, searching frantically for his nieces. If anything happened to them while Tai was in the current state he was in now, Qrow knew it would utterly break him.

He cannot let this happen.

He cannot let the final piece of Summer die away.

He cannot let his sister's daughter die.

He cannot let these two beams of hope die.

Qrow gritted his teeth and drove himself past his limits, determined to find his nieces in time. He didn't even register his surrounding anymore, ultimately trusting his instincts to guide him past stray branches and crooked twigs.

Everything around him faded as he began to focus on his one objective:

Find Ruby and Yang.

And he will search the entire forest over and over again until he does.

* * *

In the corner of his eye, Qrow noticed a flash of bright light and quickly slid to a stop. Sliding behind a tree, Qrow peeked past the tree to realize it wasn't an attack aimed towards him.

But it still could've been an attack of some sort.

Qrow panicked and quickly ran in the direction of the bright flash of light, hoping that it both wasn't them and was them. If it were them, then that meant they were in serious trouble, but if it wasn't Ruby and Yang, then that meant that Qrow would have to keep searching for them.

Then it struck him.

He was heading towards Raven's abandoned house.

Qrow felt like hitting himself repeatedly for his stupidity, there were only few things that the girls would've traveled the forest for and his sister's old house was the most obvious option.

Quickening his pace, Qrow leapt up into the trees as he got closer and closer to his destination. Fear plunged into his heart as his thoughts took him to the worst possible outcomes, such as the girls being surrounded by grimm, or getting eaten alive by them, or maybe even-

 _Ok, no, this is not helping. You've gotta stop worrying and start focusing_ Qrow thought, shaking his head free of any distracting thoughts. He can't afford to be inattentive when his girls were in trouble.

When Qrow arrived at the abandoned house, the sight of a red hood gave him hope and relief. There were no grimm in the area, so he jumped down towards the wagon with a smile etched on his face.

"You kids drive me crazy, you kn-" Qrow's words died on his tongue as he took in the sight across of him. He blinked once. Then twice. But no matter how many times he did, the scene stayed exactly the same.

He couldn't fully register what exactly this was.

Qrow blinked once more at the wagon, finally accepting that it was real and he wasn't crazy. He'd figure out later why exactly there were two Rubys in the wagon.

Looking around once more, he noticed that a certain fiery blonde was missing from the area. Glancing back at the wagon from the corner of his eye, Qrow figured he'd take the two redheads back home to Tai before continuing his search for Yang.

As he started heading back with the redheads in the wagon, he took a final glance at the wagon and sighed.

How exactly was he going to explain this to Tai?

* * *

 **Surprise A/N:**

 **Red(AKA: AngelWolf101 ): shit**

 **Red: what**

 **Red: i wasn't prepared for this**

 **Red: i wasn't ready**

 **Red: help**

 **Red: I mean**

 **Red: Hello**

 **Red: people of the internet**

 **Red: who dare read this**

 **Red: help me**

 **Red: these people are crazy**

 **Red: this is my only way of communicating without them noticing**

 **Metal( AKA: metaldragon868 ): it's a good thing you're not fucking this up**

 **Metal: cause this is the final take we're using**

 **Red: what**

 **Red: we are**

 **Red: shit**

 **Metal Dragon: oh yeah**

 **Metal Dragon: and it's all gold**

 **Red: i didn't know this**

 **Red: i**

 **Red: help**

 **Red: call 911**

 **Red: help me**

 **Red: i'm being forced**

 **Red: to write this shit**

 **Red: i mean**

 **Red: this gold**

 **Metal: nah, you're doing great**

 **Metal: just introduce the story, the other shits, and we good**

 **Red: i**

 **Red: so this**

 **Red: is a collab**

 **Metal: yup**

 **Red: between 5 awful, i mean amazingly great, writers**

 **Metal: well, three pieces of shit who couldn't be here**

 **Metal: and the two of us**

 **Red: like this fuck, i mean this guy, Metal**

 **Red: and me**

 **Red: Red**

 **Red: yeah**

 **Red: and uh**

 **Red: we all created The Order**

 **Red: because of Metal's simple motherfucking question**

 **Metal: yup**

 **Red: "What would Ruby/Ruby be called?"**

 **Metal: kind of snowballed out of control from there**

 **Red: yeah**

 **Red: we were doing great**

 **Red: and then it crashed and burned**

 **Red: but then**

 **Red: it rose from the ashes**

 **Red: and was bigger and better**

 **Metal: basically we said, "Fuck it let's start over"**

 **Red: which is now called, "A Bleeding Heart For Two"**

 **Red: i swear**

 **Red: i didn't need to look it up**

 **Red: for that answer**

 **Red: i swear**

 **Metal: _lies_**

 **Red: please don't hurt me**

 **Metal: _pulls out knife_**

 **Red: help me**


	2. Hope

A Bleeding Heart for Two

Chapter Two

The metal floor was cold against the girl's bare feet, making her shiver as she was led through the labyrinth of hallways. Despite the temperature, she tried to shuffle as slowly as she could get away with. If the guards thought she trying to stall, then they'd just drag her the rest of the way –after a quick beating, of course.

The black haired faunus had a routine, going over everything she knew about herself. As she stumbled closer to whatever they had in store for her today, the faunus did it again. ' _My name is Blake Belladonna, I am… 10, I think?_ ' That's it, that's all that was left of her life.

Blake had begun doing this every day when she realized the only thing she could recall about her family was her mother's face, not even having a name to give with it. Now even that image had faded from her memory.

All she had was her name, and the life she led now –though having even that for much longer wasn't likely.

Blake being taken to the testing room, it's where these people perform all of their experiments on their subjects. 'Cerberus,' as they're called do all kinds of things "for the betterment of human-kind." Unfortunately, they don't really care so much about faunus.

In their eyes, faunus are just a _slightly_ higher form of animal, one which is much more effective of a human analog for medical testing. So they kidnap them, throw them in holding cells, and experiment to their heart's content.

That's why she was here now. Blake was taken from her family, friends, everything she'd ever known, and thrust into some dark room, just waiting for her turn to come. Blake had been taken for tests a couple of times now, and through some miracle, their formulas hadn't killed her yet, though it was only a matter of time.

Usually, after a subject reacts to one of their tests, they're brought in again, and again, and again. After a promising breakthrough, these mad-men just experiment again and again, trying whatever they feel might give them an interesting result. It usually kills the faunus within just a couple of days. It may be the worst way to handle the situation, but then again, it's not like Cerberus will run out of subjects to test on.

And that's why Blake was headed there right now.

A while ago, it was the faunus girl's turn to 'assist' them in their project. She had been led down these same halls, into the same room, and was faced with the same scientists. They strapped her down to the table as usual, and prepared to begin.

They didn't give Blake any anesthetic, they didn't need to. Subjects usually blacked out from the pain in under a minute, why waste the money on knocking them out early? Carefully, one of them had inserted a syringe with a large needle and a dark purple liquid into her arm and injected it all.

The shot itself was painful, the needle needed to be so large because the liquid within was very thick, but it was nothing compared to the agony the serum brought. Blake felt as if her veins were on fire, feeling it spreading up the arm, headed toward her heart.

She wailed in pain, her throat quickly becoming raw from the shouting. It wasn't long until Blake fell unconscious, something the girl welcomed with open arms. As usual, when she woke up, Blake was in her cell, but it wasn't quite the same.

Even for a faunus with night-vision, the room was brighter than normal. She felt more… aware. She could sense the size and dimensions of the room, could make out the armed men outside her cell complaining about having to keep watch over the "dumb animals."

Despite the fact that Blake was still in the same hospital gown they gave to all test subjects, she felt warmer than usual. Even after all of that, something still felt off. It wasn't until she sat down that Blake realized she now had a _tail_.

Whatever they did seemed to have brought out her faunus traits even more. Unfortunately, sprouting a tail isn't exactly something that goes unnoticed by the examiners. So here Blake was, being brought closer to her death- step by step. She had a reaction to their test, and now they were going to experiment on her over and over until her body just gives out.

And there was absolutely nothing that could be done about it. If she ran, they'd just catch her and drag her back. If the girl fought, they would subdue her with tranquilizers, and just leave her on the table the whole time- Blake wouldn't even be resting in her cell between trials.

Although the cat faunus had always tried to keep from giving them the satisfaction, she finally began to cry. If it wasn't this test that was going to kill her, it would be the next one; or the one after that, or the one after that. She was going to die. She would be alone, in pain, without even having an identity. Anybody who knew wouldn't care, and if this was ever uncovered, Blake Belladonna would just be a number. Subject #247, in their records, she wasn't even a name. Blake's family would never know what happened, and that might have been the worst part in her mind.

She'd long ago accepted her fate, it had only been a matter of time. But anyone who'd known Blake, anyone who'd cared about her, they would never know where she went. Some might even hold out hope that she would return still, there might be people hopeful that they could find Blake for their whole lives.

But none of them would ever see her again.

Blake's soft sobbing and the footsteps heading ever closer to her doom were the only noises in the hall. She was broken, Cerberus had won, and there wasn't even any significance to it. Blake knew her death would be just one of hundreds to them, her fate would just be a waste, her final moments would mean nothing to anyone, except for the poor faunus behind her on the list.

Blake fell to her knees, simply unable to move forward any more. She had expected them to beat her as they had promised to do to any who stopped, but they didn't. The soldiers knew this wasn't resistance, it was surrender. Instead, the two of them each grabbed an arm and dragged the girl's limp form to the testing room.

When they brought her in, all the doctors were rushing around excitedly. They were excited at the prospect of performing painful operations on her until she dropped; if Blake had been fed in the past few days, she would have thrown up.

Soon enough, the faunus was secured to the table, and the scientists gathered around her. One approached with a similar syringe from last time, though this one's contents were glowing violet. Instead of putting it into the vein on Blake's arm, the man brought it up to her neck.

She couldn't move her head, she was stuck completely still as a sharp pain originated in her neck. It felt to her as if lightning shot through her body. Blake thrashed around in pain as much as she could with all the restraints holding her down.

Then, something new happened. The cat faunus felt the pain dull, if only a little bit, and purple energy burst out from her. The restraints were blown off, and she could hear the lab workers shouting something about "aura".

Even though Blake was presented with a chance to escape, she couldn't move. It was as if her whole body simply refused to respond to her commands. She could feel her consciousness slipping away, her eyelids drooping shut and mind going blank. The last thing she saw before falling asleep was the door burst open and more of their security guards running in to investigate the disturbance.

Blake awoke in her cell with no clue how much time had passed or what had happened. It wasn't long until they came for her, despite the girl's vain hopes that the last test would had unnerved them enough to hold off on more experiments. This time there were six guards, each armed and watching her closely.

As the procession trudged down the hall, Blake saw a flicker out of the corner of her eye. All seven people turned to look, but there was nothing there. It had looked like the form of a person, but it was gone too quickly to make out any features.

Deciding that it wasn't a threat, the Cerberus mercenaries shoved Blake forwards to keep moving, keeping the barrel of a gun against her back the whole way.

When they reached the usual room, the soldiers passed it. Shooting a glance toward it, Blake saw that the room was in shambles, equipment and tools littered the floor, ceiling tiles were missing, and a couple technicians were conducting repairs on some electrical systems.

' _I did all that?_ ' Blake wondered. The girl concentrated her hardest, closing her eyes and straining, trying to force another explosion. One of them prodded Blake with their gun and said, "Keep moving, don't bother trying to do that again."

After moving a few doors further down, they entered a room. This one seemed similar to the last one, though there was an area specifically for observation. It was a small room with a window observing the operating table that was only accessible via a security door.

There were other differences too. Instead of the leather, belt-like restraints that were employed in the last room, these ones were metal, resembling handcuffs more than anything. When Blake was properly immobilized again, the door opened and a single scientist entered the room.

She walked over to a gas canister and removed a mask which she placed over the girl's mouth and nose. Turning the nozzle on the container, the hiss of gas escaping the canister filled Blake's ears. She tried to hold her breath, but eventually needed to inhale. When she did, Blake started to feel fuzzy. She couldn't quite think straight, and her whole body felt tingly.

It didn't take long to realize they were actually using anesthetic to put her under before injecting her this time. Blake's final thoughts were as to whether she would ever wake up.

She did, somewhat disappointingly. Blake had half been hoping that being drugged and calmly falling asleep would be the end to her nightmare, rather than the possibility that she would die in a less pleasant way in future experiments.

She sat still, just waiting for Cerberus to take her again, until she heard the radio for the guard outside her door go off. _"We are under attack, repeat, we are under attack! Everyone to your posts! Soldiers stationed at the archives destroy the records, holding cell guards must terminate all subjects immediately! All non-combat personnel follow evacuation procedures now!"_

While Blake had heard this, she knew that the other prisoners couldn't, and if they couldn't hear the radio, they certainly wouldn't hear her. Blake could hear gunshots as the guards went through each cell and executed the poor test subjects within, unable to warn them in any way.

Her fear grew; if someone was here, then they could rescue her! All she had to do was survive long enough, but Blake doubted they would arrive in time. By her count, at least a dozen faunus had been gunned down, and she was only a few more doors down from the last victim.

Another shot rang out, closer still. Blake had only seconds until they came to put a bullet in her. Suddenly the form from before flickered into existence next to me. It was an exact duplicate of herself. Wasting precious seconds staring at the shape in awe, Blake shook her head and focused- now was not the time for that. ' _Maybe I can hide in a corner, then try to jump the guard when realizes his mistake_.'

Crouching in the corner by the door, she waited, her clone standing upright in the center of the room. The door slid open and the man took aim, and unleashed a volley of bullets. As his finger pulled back, and the room erupted with the sound of gunfire, the copy of Blake disappeared.

Having already missed one opportunity to escape, the girl ran at him as quickly as possible. Tackling him, she yanked the gun from his grasp and pointed it at the Cerberus trooper who had planned to kill her and fired. She had never used a weapon before, but at point blank she didn't need to aim. Blood seeped from his wounds and he laid motionless on the floor.

Blake madly dashed for the door at the end of the hall, until it opened to reveal more Cerberus forces. Looking for an escape, she dove into one of the cells of a deceased faunus. Before she could move though, the soldiers began to fire. The bullets, surprisingly, did not kill her as, although she could still feel their sting when they bounced off of a purple glow that surrounded her.

Taking this second chance offered to her, Blake dove into the cell and pointed the gun at the entrance. Blake could hear them coordinating with each other as they advanced toward her room.

She heard heavy footsteps as the armed men neared her door. Shutting her eyes, Blake concentrated as hard as she could and tried to create more clones. She wished for them, she thought ' _create a clone!_ ', she focused on an image of myself, trying to simply will one into existence.

Nothing Blake did seemed to work, and Cerberus was just outside the cell now. She started panicking, ' _I was so close to freedom, and now I'm still going to die; all because I can't figure out my stupid powers!_ '

In an instant, two more copies appeared, one on either side of her- each holding the same gun. When a soldier poked his head in the door way, the first thing he saw was three guns pointed at him, and he jerked back out of sight. "There are fucking three of those animals!" he yelled, evidently not being a very observant man.

Blake waited for the slightest sign of movement from the hallway through the narrow door, and fired. Any time one of the soldiers tried to get a better position or fire at her, a quick burst would scare them off.

She couldn't keep this up forever though. They may think there are three guns worth of ammunition in there, but once Blake ran out of ammo they'd realize the shots had stopped coming. Seeing as how she only had the clip that was in when she grabbed it from the first guard, she was low on time.

For once though, luck was on Blake Belladonna's side. She heard shouts of surprise emanate from the soldiers. One fell dead across the entrance to the cell. Blake carefully peeked out of the room at her saviors. She saw a group of people dressed in black, white, and gray engage Cerberus. Each donned a black hood and a gray mask on their heads.

The exception was a boy who appeared to be slightly older than her dressed in black and red. His mask bore red markings, and he wielded a red-bladed katana. Together, the intruders cut down the Cerberus forces quickly.

Fearing that they would hurt her too, Blake ducked back into the cell and crouched down.

"Spread out and search for survivors." Blake supposed that was the one with a katana.

"Sir, all the cells are opened, and all the faunus inside are dead."

"Really? Then why is there a dead guard down there, and who were these ones after?"

Blake struggled to breathe as quietly as possible, beyond terrified, ' _he knows I'm here!_ ' It was then that he shouted, "you can come out, we're here to help!" Blake was cautious, but she had an idea.

As if her clones knew what she was thinking, one of them stepped out of the room and into plain view of the intruders. "There you are, come on over, it's okay, you're safe now."

His voice was calm and kind, he talked to 'Blake' as if she were a child- then again, she was. The clone vanished and the real Blake came out of hiding herself. When she did, all of them turned their gazes toward her.

"It's alright, we're here to help."

Timidly, the cat faunus shuffled out into the open, and hesitantly made her way over. As Blake drew near, she realized that he and all of his comrades were faunus. Their leader took off his jacket and offered to Blake to give her some warmth the hospital gowns did not.

"It's okay, I'm not really cold." Blake mumbled nervously. Nodding his head, he donned the black and red jacked once more before asking the girl her name.

"Blake, Blake Belladonna. Who are you?"

"My name is Adam Taurus, and we," he said, gesturing to the group, "are the White Fang."

* * *

 **Okay, so authors notes… I'm Minesniper, you might recognize me from… nothing at all. I have a few stories, but I'd genuinely be surprised if you recognized me.**

 **I was invited to a Discord server by TheAngelWolf101 (also known as Red) and a little while later joined this group of lunatics to write a Ruby/Ruby pairing story they had been working on for a while. Shortly after, the entire plot was thrown out the window and we started from scratch.**

 **Not my fault. We all agreed it was not my fault.**

 **Anyways, I wrote this chapter in first person. Then they decided we liked third person better so I had to edit it to be in third person, that was** _ **fun**_ **. For future reference, if a chapter is ever late, blame me. It might not be my fault, but I'd still like to take credit.**

 **Anyways, hope you all enjoyed. If you did, please leave a review, follow, favorite, send us money, worship us every night, sacrifice those who do not read our- You know what, just stick with the first three.**


	3. Wishes

A Bleeding Heart for Two

Chapter 3

 _A/n: Hello, this is Metal, and this is my chapter._

 _and, as some forwarning, there is a tiny bit of gore._

* * *

"Happy birthday Pyrrha! Make a wish!" Her mother said happily to the young girl.

And with a huff and a puff, the girl happily responded by wishing as she blew out the candles, all six of them.

Her wish wasn't the normal one of a six year old, most might wish to get big and strong, have a pony, or maybe even to have an adventure. But then again, Pyrrha didn't really feel like she needed anything else. She had everything. A mom and dad who loved her, an older brother, a baby sister. Even her grandparents, the one's on her father's side, were here. Her family was well off enough. Not rich, but certainly upper middle class. She might not have had any real close friends, but it wasn't like she was completely ostracized or something. She was still young, she'd make them in time, but for right now, she had everything she ever wanted.

Almost

Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she focused on the tantalizing piece of cake her mother was cutting for her. She had her mother's nose and lips, but had her father's general jaw structure and eye shape. But one thing she didn't get from either parent was her coloration. No one could really account for why her eyes were such a bright emerald green, when her father's were blue and her mother's brown. Same with her scarlet hair, considering everyone else in her family either had brown or black hair. Even her brother and sister. If it wasn't for the similar facial structure, one would be hard pressed to see the resemblance.

"Happy Birthday Pyrrha." A voice said behind her.

Turning, she saw her grandparents standing behind her, her grandfather holding a purple box with a bow on it. "Here you go, princess" He said fondly.

Opening the box with gusto, she found inside a bronze tiara.

"Thank you!" She said graciously with a smile. A fake smile.

It was...nice, she supposed, but she wasn't terribly drawn to it too much

"Happy birthday Pyrrha." He older brother told her, smiling with a green box in his hands outstretched to her.

As her eyes lit up she graciously took the present from her elder brother, she muttered a small thanks. Opening it up, she saw inside was a little toy knight, and action figure with a spear and shield in dark grey armor.

"Samuel, I don't know if that's really appropriate-" Her mother began, giving a disapproving look to her older brother.

"It's perfect!" She exclaimed, stars in her eyes as she looked at it.

Her older brother grinned triumphantly, giving a sly glance to his mother. She thought Pyrrha would have preferred a doll to something like that, but her big brother professed he knew better. And lo and behold, he did.

* * *

 **That Night**

It was unfortunate, really. No one could have known. How could they? There were no signs. Nothing to tell them that it would happen, or how.

For it was more than just the sixth year since her birth. It was the anniversary of something else, something darker. As little Pyrrha went to sleep that night, something else finally stirred. After years of waiting, of sleeping, something inside her finally awoke.

And it was oh so hungry.

So as the clock struck midnight, the young girl's eyes flew open.

In another room, the girl's parents lay sleeping peacefully next to each other, happy and content in their slumber. Then, the mother felt a pressure on her chest, causing her to slowly awake. As she slowly opened her eyes, she took in a sight of familiar red hair.

"Pyrrha?" She said groggily, still trying to gather her wits.

But then her eyes caught something, something that jolted her awake.

"Pyrrha!" She exclaimed in surprised fear.

The redheaded girl was crouched down on her chest, looming over her. Her face was twisted into a savage snarl as she bared her razor sharp teeth at her, her gums bleeding. Her small hands sporting inch long claws from the tips of her bleeding fingers. But her once emerald orbs were what truly captivated and terrified her mother.

Instead, twin emerald flames burned in her sockets, black smoke pouring out from the edges of the malachite inferno.

"Pyrrha! What are you doing!" She yelled, terrified.

"گرسنه. خیلی گرسنه. شما به من تغذیه می کنند." Pyrrha responded with a growl, her words unintelligible to her mother.

"Wha-?" Her mother managed to choke out.

"غذا میخواهم!" Pyrrha snarled, her mouth twisting inhumanly to say the strange and foreign words and sounds.

And with those words, her arm shot out, and her hand clamped around the mother's throat her claws digging into her flesh. The mother tried to resist, but the girl had gained unnatural strength for her size, and would not be moved. In a frantic bid for life, she turned to her husband, trying to rouse him, but when she did, all she saw was a pair of cold dead brown eyes staring back at her, red ligature marks wrapped around his stiff neck.

 _No!_ The mother thought in horror as the life was being choked out of her, her strength slowly fading as her lungs burned for breath.

"Pyrrha...please…" She tried to say, hoping to reach out to her baby, hoping that her little Pyrrha was still in there somewhere.

Little did she know, she was.

Pyrrha was in there, seeing, hearing, and _feeling_ everything being done. But helpless to do anything about it. She was a prisoner in her own body, a passenger screaming in protest as she rode this tortuous ride.

" _Stop! No! Please Stop! You're hurting her!"_ She cried out in her mind

She could feel her mother's pulse beneath her grip, the warmth of her mother's skin, her attempts to escape as her body writhed under her. But it was all for naught, her grip was too tight, her position too strong. So she was helpless as she felt her mother slowly fade under her, her pulses slowly, then coming to a halt as the life drained from her eyes.

" _Mommy!"_ She cried, hoping that someone would save her, that it was all a dream, that mommy and daddy would come to save her.

But mommy and daddy were dead.

What was even worse was the thoughts brushing up against her own, _foreign_ thoughts.

It was hungry, so incredibly hungry, but it hadn't totally lost itself, it could still think.

It could still plan.

And so she felt the waves of satisfaction come over her at the success of its plan. The biggest threats were dead, now it could enjoy itself. Now it could feast.

And feast it did.

Manipulating her body, it moved her hands from her mother's throat, and moved them down to her chest. It plunged her clawed hands into her mother's chest cavity, and wrapped around her rib cage. With preternatural strength, it ripped her rib cage apart, opening up her chest cavity like one would open a wardrobe. Her mother's ribs groaned, cracked, and ultimately broke under the strain, causing ugly, jagged, spikes of broken bone to jut out.

But it didn't care.

Instead, it moved her blood soaked hand into the now gaping wide chest cavity, and ripped out her mother's still warm heart. It moved the heart up to her mouth, closer and closer. As the metallic scent of her mother's blood flooded her nose, her mouth watered uncontrollably. It open her mouth, moved the heart ever closer, and took a bite.

Her teeth sunk into the thick, wet, and warm muscle of her mother's heart. The razor sharp teeth cutting through the heart like a knife through a tender steak. It cut off a chunk of the heart, and instantly her mouth was filled with the succulent flavor of the raw meat.

As it made her swallow it, bite after bite, the hunger ever so slowly faded. It was still there, and it was still so strong it was maddening, but it was falling away.

But that didn't make Pyrrha feel any less disgusted and horrified about what it was doing, about what it was making her do. Or about what it was about to do.

To her ever increasing horror, it wasn't finished when it had fully consumed her mother's heart. Instead, it moved her clawed hands again, this time to her mother's eyes. Tearing them from their sockets and further desecration her corpse, it held each eye in one hand. Then, without even a moment of hesitation, it plopped them in her mouth, and bit down on them.

Popping them with her teeth, it ate them with as much ease and enthusiasm as of she was eating grapes. It sucked down the sweet, bloody, juices, savoring the flavor of each one, as if it was a treasured delicacy.

All the while Pyrrha kept feeling _something_ inside her changing, growing, while the hunger slowly went away.

But it was still there.

It was still there when it moved onto her father's corpse, finding itself finished with her mother's cooling body. Even after it finished with her father, leaving both their corpses a gruesome, bloody, and desecrated shell of their former selves, still it hungered.

So it kept moving, kept hunting, kept _eating_.After it had killed the biggest threats quietly and gotten the hang of using her body, it felt it was time to let loose, and get a little messy. Instead of simply strangling them, it tore their throats out with it bare hands.

Her grandfather and grandmother were next. While they didn't taste as good, it felt, they still helped satisfy the hunger.

But still it wasn't enough.

So it continued it's gruesome path through the household in her body. Every room it entered, it left a cold bloody mess.

It moved to the children's room, where her younger sister and baby brother lay, and snuffed their lights out as well, both of them barely being a snack in its opinion. The three old was taken care of by simply crushing their neck, while the baby was even easier, it simply ripped out its heart through her weak and fragile rib cage.

And while it was all filling, it could sense the presence of one more.

 _No_ Pyrrha pleaded with all her heart _No, please, just leave him alone. Just leave one of the left, please._

She had watched and felt it tear into and consume her whole family, and she couldn't take much more. They were all dead, each and every one. He brother was the last one left, the only thing left that she cared about. She couldn't lose him too.

Still, her cries fell on deaf ears as it took step after step closer to the boy's room.

* * *

 _I'm going to kill that man_ She sighed as she walked toward her hotel.

The Blonde green-eyed woman in her early thirties in a white blouse and dark pants walked her way through the dark, street-lamp lit, sidewalk of the area. She was making her way through the suburbs, choosing to take the time to walk rather than some form of rapid transit. After the Academic meeting her boss, Prof. Ozpin, had ordered her to attend, she needed it.

After all, the meeting was for the Headmasters of the five huntsmen academies of the world, not her.

 _I don't understand how he can be so mature and commanding one moment, and childish and lazy the next._ She thought, shaking her head as she continued onward.

Then, as if she had crossed some invisible barrier, she felt it.

She could feel in her soul, a profound darkness in the area, an ability gained form years of experience, training, and necessity. She was taken by surprise by the darkness for a moment, not expecting such incredible hunger and wrongness in an area like this, not this deep into the "safety" of the kingdom.

 _What?!_ She thought, taking a step back.

Soon, however, she recovered, and drew her riding crop, her focus of choice.

Without wasting any time, she ran toward the location of the darkness, tracking it down with her very soul. Before long, she came to a house at the end of the cul de sac. It was a normal, standard, unassuming suburban Mistralian house. Nothing really of note about it, if you were the common person.

But not for her.

It was faint, barely even there. If she had been a faunus, it probably would have been more noticeable, but her experience let her know it was there, and what it was.

The metallic scent of blood.

Thick waves of darkness poured out of the house like tar spilling from the earth. It was almost overpowering in its depth and hunger. But there was something behind that all powerful hunger, something...foreign.

at first, she had thought it was a Grimm, but as she got closer, she could feel it's hunger wane, slowly but surely. Something impossible for a Grimm, hunger was part of the core of what they were. For them to grow truly full was...well it was the antithesis of what they were. It would be like a light shining darkness, or someone's aura killing them.

Then…

It was gone.

It felt like a sudden implosion of dark hunger as it all disappeared in a metaphysical _snap._ In its wake was a profound feeling of death and desolation.

She was left stunned for a moment at its sudden disappearance. It was impossible, right? How could such darkness simply disappear? It was as if it had come, ate and killed everyone inside, and disappeared into thin air.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard it.

It started softly at first, barely even audible. Then it grew into a distant, muffled wail.

Her eyes widened as she realized that something _was_ alive in there, something had survived. Without stopping to consider the legality of her actions, she whipped her crop up, blasting the front door off it's hinges. She took a step inside, and immediately froze.

The scent of blood was incredibly thick, a miasma of death hanging in the air. It made her stomach twist and roil violently in protest, forcing her to push it down with the help of her aura. She pushed through the sickening scent of fresh blood, and pushed toward the sounds of the wailing.

She stood before a door, the sounds coming from the other side, and a profound feeling of loss pouring from it. She took a moment to gather herself and brace herself for what she would find on the other side, before she opened it.

It wasn't enough.

The room was a typical teenage boy's room. Posters lined the wall, clothes covered the floor, and various models of knights, hunters, Grimm, and monsters filled the shelves. And laying on the bed, was the dweller of the room.

Laying in a pool of his own blood, with a little girl laying on top of him.

His rib cage had been torn open, jagged ribs sticking up into the air, with the young girl lying inside his bloody chest cavity. Her arms were wrapped around his bloody neck, a massive hole torn in it. His broken ribs curved around her, almost cradling her in his death. His eyes were but bloody holes on his face, blood streaming down his horror and grief frozen face like tears.

The girl continued to sob into the dead boy's neck, continuously wailing in native Mistralian, "(Big brother wake up, wake up please!)"

It was a heartbreaking sight, but, unfortunately, the night never got better from there.

And for the young girl in question, everything she had known was torn apart in one night. Her whole family dead, and despite what people tried to tell her later, she knew it was all her fault. It had been her wish, after all.

Ever since she could remember, there had been this little, gnawing, hunger insider her. No matter how much she ate, it was never filled, never satisfied. It was always there, clawing at the back of her mind.

She had asked for this, but not like this. She hadn't really known what she was asking for. She was only a child, she couldn't have known that she had wished for this.

" _I wish I could fill this hunger"_

* * *

 _A/n Metal: Ok, so..._

 _I might have lied_

 _about the gore_

 _not sorry_

 _now then, if you know me from Madness, you should have in no way shape or form been surprised. If you didn't, well, surprise?_

 _Whatever._

 _In any case, yes, this is that one fancy Collab I talked about a while ago._

 _Now, how this will work, since no one else has said it, is this:_

 _One author, usually, will work on each chapter. Said author(s) will then compose the accompanying A/n._

 _We will try to post one chapter on sunday each week._

 _It will also be a little while before we get to Beacon. We should be getting there by..._

 _Chap 15?_

 _maybe 16?_

 _Though, I guess it depends on your definition of "get to Beacon"_

 _Anyway, you'll see._

 _Now, since I'm working with other authors, expect this to be less mysterious than Madness._

 _And happier._

 _Though, conversely, expect that since I **am** working on this, expect darkness, angst(apparently that's my thing), gore, gore fluff(Apparently that's my thing too), murder, violence, humor, guns, explosions, stabby stabby, decapitation, forceful removal of limbs, philosophy, existential issues, paranoia, psychological issues, madness, science, magic, anti-BS, and a whole host of other goodies. _

_Though, since dan's involved, expect...well_

 _you know what?_

 _You'll just have to wait to find out._

 _But, in case you couldn't tell, this is not going to be following canon too closely._

 _That's sort of my style._

 _We'll be using canon as a guideline, but, unless i want to pull out some real bullshit, shit's gonna be different._

 _I mean_

 _for god sakes_

 _there are TWO ruby's now_

 _not to mention the other stuff._

 _I mean, Pyrrha just sort of got possessed and murdered her whole family._

 _that's going to leave some scars._

 _In other news, I'm writing the next chapter, so look forward to that._

 _Pretty sure that's it._

 _Let me know what you thought and if i fucked up anywhere._

 _Actually, just let us all know that._

 _See you next time._


	4. Stay

A Bleeding Heart for Two

Chapter 4

 _A/n: Metal_

 _Warning: Feels(hopefully)_

* * *

She ran

She ran hard and fast.

Running through the trees as fast as she could.

She didn't know how long she had been running, nor any way to get back home, but she did know one thing, if she stopped, she would die. She also knew that she couldn't hope to keep running forever. In her mind, she thought she was running to lead them away. She could tell herself she was going to die, but deep down, she didn't mean it.

Deep down, she hoped and pleaded someone would save her.

Because deep down, nobody wants to die.

So she ran, her feet crushing dead leaves underfoot as she weaved through the trees. Behind her, she could hear the sounds of barks and howls coming ever closer. She couldn't pin down where they were coming from, it sounded like they were everywhere in the forest all around her, and yet at the same time right on her heels.

Still, she didn't dare stop to get her bearings. Instead, she continued to run.

She sucked in air as fast and hard as she could to feed to her hungering, burning, lungs. She pushed passed the pain in her aching legs, ignoring the tears welling up in her eyes, and the crushing pain in her heart.

She hoped and prayed her little gambit had worked, because if it hadn't, that meant this had all been for not, and Ruby was dead.

 _No!_ She shook her head firmly, _She's not dead! I saved her!_ She thought firmly

 _Ruby is aliv-_

 _WHACK!_

She was abruptly torn from her thoughts when something big came out of the hungry dark surrounding her, and smacked through the air.

She collided with a tree, left arm first. The _crack_ she felt more than heard came from her left arm being crushed and broken from impact. Dazed and confused, she struggled to her feet, shock and adrenaline keeping her from feeling the pain, and looked toward the source of the attack, only to see what she feared most.

Beowolves.

They had caught up with her

No, they had decided to stop chasing her.

They could have stopped this anytime they wanted, but it seemed they were getting some perverse pleasure out of this.

It was just a simple, harmless, little human girl, after all, they thought with their simplistic and primal minds. What harm could it pose? Why not have some fun with their food?

Scrambling up against the tree as she clutched her broken and pained arm, the girl, Yang, looked around frantically for any other options. A way out, a way to live just a little bit longer.

Seeing it, she ran through the small hole they had left her, tried to go just a little bit further.

She ran down the grassy hill, trying to get to where the forest seemed to get thicker and more tangled with bushes, trees, and other living things.

Before she reach it, however, a Beowolf suddenly appeared beside her, and swatted her with it's claw. The impact tore through her skin and clothes, carving deep, bloody grooves into her skin, and sent her small fragile body flying through the air again. She hit the ground on the other side of the hill, on a steep incline. The momentum sent her tumbling down the steep, almost vertical hill, before she came to a sudden stop at the end, her head colliding with a an old, darkened tree at the bottom.

Stars exploded in her vision and everything hurt. She tried to get up, but she couldn't even see straight, let alone get to her feet.

She saw the Grimm gather around her as she began to lose feeling in her body as something wet trickled down the back of her head. The world began to darken around her as everything went numb, her thoughts became muddled and losing focus.

 _Someone save me_ She thought, drifting into the world of unconsciousness as tears streamed down her face, _Please_

 _I don't want to die alone_

* * *

She watched, silently, from above as they chased the girl. Everything she had ever been was telling her to forget this, to move on and leave. The girl was weak, and her death was assured. Nobody was anywhere close enough to save her, no help could come to her. There was no point in watching it continue, she wasn't the type to get joy from it.

And yet…

As she watched the Grimm toy with her, throw her around like a ragdoll, and tear into her flesh, the woman found she couldn't turn away. Something compelled her to stay, to watch.

So she watched as they threw the girl into a tree, crushing her arm into a broken mess. She watched as they swatted her down a hill, their long and sharp claws tearing into her face, rending flesh from muscle and bone. She watched as the girl collided with a tree at the bottom, the blow cracking her skull open. And when she saw the beowolves descend on her, when she saw one of them impale her on their claw, and bring her to their mouth, finally, she could watch no more.

It took less than half a second, and it was over before they even really registered what happened.

By the time the sounds of boots crushing dead leaves underfoot sounded through the forest, each Beowolf fell, bifurcated into two cleanly cut halves, before evaporating into the air.

She caught the girl with her free hand before she could hit the ground, the other hand resting on the hilt of her recently sheathed sword. Blood poured from the blonde's abdomen, face, and left arm as she grew ever paler.

The girl was on the edge of death. Even with her speed, there was no hope of getting to a hospital in time to save her, and even if she could, there was no guarantee of her survival. The wounds were too great, she would bleed out in moments.

The woman stared at the young girl for a moment. The life drained from her, her life cut short by a numerous small, but costly, mistakes. She would never grow up, never experience life as she was meant to, never find love, never makes something over herself.

But, then the woman made snap decision.

In an action of impulse, she laid the girl down on the ground, and kneeled over her. She placed the palm of her hand against the girl's heart, and pressed down on her chest. Black, ghostly, flames slowly ignited across the woman's body, covering her in a dark ethereal embrace. The black flames concentrated around her arm, before she sent them flowing into the girl below her.

The shadowy fire surged into the girl's body, filling her with it's power. It coursed through her heart, and through her veins, blazing paths throughout her core. As it pervaded her body, it soon reached her very soul, and touched it. It reached inside, and ignited a fire of the girl's own inside herself.

Soon, the fire of the girl's soul erupted from within. Bright, golden, flames tinged with ghastly black surged out from every inch of her body, reforming it to the code of the soul. Flesh knitted itself back together, blood flowed back into place, bone was mended whole again.

Moments later, the fires faded, and the girl fell back into slumber.

The woman continued to crouch over the girl, looking her over again in careful thought, a concerned frown worn behind her mask.

 _Why did I do that?_ She thought, bewildered.

It was a good question, considering what exactly she had done. At its most basic core, it very similar to the technique to awaken a person's aura, and it did, in fact, do that as well.

However, the differences were large, crucial, and potentially fatal.

First of all, it was far more draining. Even now, the women could feel exhaustion come over her, as if she had fought an army of Grimm, and not just a pathetic five. If one did it while their aura was too low, it could actually kill them

Second, it was not a without it's risks to the recipient of the technique. The person was flooded with the donor's aura, the foreign force filling every part of them, and even pervading their soul. While typical aural awakening was like a gentle touch, a tap really, to the core of the soul, this was more like shoving both hands elbow first inside it, and shaking it into awakening.

And as a result, it left it's mark.

For most, the two people involved needed to have compatible aura. This could be done by them having a very close and deep relationship, usually love, or by being related, through the second wasn't a sure thing. The reason was, because if they weren't compatible, then the recipient's soul would reject the aura of the donor, which would be filling their entire body at the time. Results of this could vary, but an aural rejection reaction always resulted in severe permanent injury to both the body, mind, and soul, and often ended in an excruciatingly painful death

However, in children, rejection was less likely, especially the younger they were. This was because, as children, their body, mind, and souls were more malleable, still growing and changing as they grew as a person. For an adult, their soul had already reached a fixed state, it had already reached maturity, and was resistant to change. But the children were still malleable.

But, even still, it was not without consequence. The consequence, to most, was either the point, desirable, or not an issue. But to the woman in question, the consequence violated a vow she had made to herself long ago.

Because the consequence, was a two-way street. The donor, when pulling back what aura they could, took a tiny little fragment of the other's soul, nothing damaging, but still a small aspect. In turn, the donor left a small piece of their own soul in the recipient, a piece that change and affect the young, malleable, recipient. It also created an inescapable bond between the two, each having a small piece of the other inside them.

It was a technique that either strengthened loving bonds that already existed, or served to adopt a child in body mind and soul. Something anyone desperate enough to use this technique would have been fine with.

But this woman...she was confused, worried, and even a little scared, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself.

 _Why did I save my daughter?_

* * *

 _This is a mess_ She thought with a frown.

The woman ran back from the cottage she had just looked over, and was...displeased...by what she found.

 _This wasn't how this was supposed to happen_.

 _I trusted them!_ She scowled, _And this is what they let happen!_

She stopped that train of thought cold, gathering and constraining her thoughts with a deep breath. She would not allow such emotions to overcome her.

Still, she didn't know what to do, and she felt very much in strange waters.

Watching her daughter, Yang, run through the forest with Grimm chasing after her wasn't what disturbed her. Nor was the part where she had such detached calm for most of it.

No

What disturbed her, was when she saved her life.

To most, that thought might sound preposterous. That she was disturbed by her desire to save her own daughter from certain death? That she was disturbed by her own _humanity_?

Madness, the normal human would say.

But, Raven Branwen wasn't normal. Some might have questioned whether she was even human at all, considering her calloused, hard, and unforgiving outlook on life.

After all, she regretted her…"fling" with Tai. A moment of weakness in her opinion. What she regretted more, was the thing born from it, her spawn. She wouldn't abort or otherwise kill her, despite the distaste she told herself she had for Yang. Still, she refused to have anything to do with the child.

" _I don't want anything to do with such a weak pound of fat and flesh"_ She told herself.

She admired strength, and the baby born from her womb was anything but. It was a parasite that would only take everything from her, and offer her nothing but "comfort" and "emotional support", things for weak and foolish masses, not someone like her, she told herself.

 _So why did I save her?_ She thought with grit teeth.

It would have been perfect, the weakling would have died, and there would have been no blood on her hand. Her problem would have been taken care of, and everything would have been wrapped up, nice and simple. And yet…

Something drove her to act.

Before she truly knew what she was doing, she had slain all that threaten her spawn. Then she had performed the ritual of rebirth on the girl.

 _Why?_

It was maddening to her.

The actions of a weak fool.

Right?

She shook her head of these thoughts of the past, and instead thought about what to do next.

She had originally thought of returning Yang back to Qrow and Tai, who she had trusted enough to keep her safe. But the fact that they had allowed this to happen put that into question. Still, despite all she had done, she was desperate for any other options.

Then, she had seen what had become of them.

Tai, somehow becoming an even more worthless mass of wasted flesh as he wallowed away in despair and misery, and Qrow, her own brother, was playing jester to two ruby's in an effort to comfort them.

Two Ruby's.

While she did not keep in full contact with the family, she knew enough to know that Ruby did not have a twin sister. Which meant that one of them was an imposter. And yet, instead of dealing with this potential threat as a proper Branwen should, Qrow was laughing the pain away and trying to bring them together.

 _Fool_ She scoffed internally

 _I suppose it is most fortunate that I was born first, even it was only by a few minutes. Else he would be the family head, and not I._ She thought.

 _Not that there's much of a family to head, anymore._

Still, what she had seen at the house only fueled her doubts about returning Yang to them. How could she guarantee that Yang would be safe with the imposter? How could she know that Qrow and Tai wouldn't let an accident like this happen again?

And why, WHY!?, did she care?

 _Curse this damn ritual, polluting my brain with these weak thoughts_ She cursed mentally, conveniently forgetting that she was the one who did it in the first place, knowing full well what would happen.

Soon, she returned to the cozy little area of the forest she had left the girl. It was secluded, restrained by natural cliffs and hills, as well as containing a nice, pristine lake surrounded by dense foliage and trees. While it wasn't truly safe, it would do for the moment.

Unfortunately, the woman realized, something was wrong.

 _Where is she?_ She thought, frantic concerned fear rising within her.

The girl was gone, nowhere to be seen.

The woman spun around, frantically looking missing blonde, the girl she had just put so much effort into saving.

Then, stopping herself again, she took a breath, and calmed down. Instead of letting her emotions get he best of her, she just relaxed, and let her aura feel around her. She had just activated the girl's aura, not to mention with a rebirthing ritual with herself. Finding her would be simple.

 _There_ She thought, finding her quarry.

Slowly, she walked toward the lake, careful not to alarm the girl. The bright, golden blonde stood out easily against the emerald green foliage, and sapphire blue waters in front of her. The girl was crouched at the edge of the lake, looking down at her reflection.

A purposeful step on branch alerted the girl to her presence. She spun around, surprise in her wide scarlet eyes.

 _Scarlet?_ Raven pondered.

 _They were Lavender before, weren't they?_

 _A side effect of the Rebirthing Ritual._ She frowned.

Aside from the change in eye color, there were other things different about her now. Despite the rebirthing ritual healing her, it had it's limits, and as such, many scars still remained. Her clothes were in tatters, the shirt little more than scraps of cloth, while the tan shorts merely had some deep cuts in them.

Her face had three long, deep, angry red grooves curving up from the left of her jawline, across her cheek, and over her eye and nose. He left arm, once crushed into a broken, bleeding, mess of broken bone and flesh, now healed. Still, the compound fractures left jarring spots of ugly scar tissue running all along it. Through a massive hole in her shirt, a massive, jagged, horrid scar lay where a Beowolf had impaled her on it's claw.

And despite this, Raven couldn't help but see a sort of beauty in her.

She pushed these "trivial" thoughts from her head when she noticed the look of fear on the girl looking up at her. She had scrambled around, her back to the lake, as she looked up at the woman with wide red eyes.

While she knew she wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around, she still found this behavior to be...odd.

 _Why is she looking at me like that?_ Raven thought in confusion, _Most people only fear me after they've met me._

Then, it hit her.

Taking off her Grimm mask, she cradled it with one arm against her hip, before looking back down at the girl. To her surprise, the girl's eyes' widened even further, though this time recognition fluttering in the crimson orbs, and not fear.

Satisfied the girl didn't fear her anymore, she decided to move onto her next issue.

"Yang." She began, the name unfamiliar, yet not unpleasant on her lips. "I'm going to take you back your uncle Qrow now."

As much as she might not entirely trust them anymore, she had a feeling that if she tried to keep the girl away from the only family she had ever known, it wouldn't go too well. Besides, she really didn't have many other viable options.

 _It might not be perfect, but it's better than the alternatives_ She thought.

"W-who?"

And like that, her thoughts crashed into a trainwreck.

"Your uncle Qrow." SHe said slowly, looking at the girl with concerns confusion.

"I-I have an uncle?" the girl said, surprised.

"You...you don't know your uncle Qrow?" Raven asked carefully, her mind slowly putting the terrible pieces together to get to the distressing truth.

"No." The girl shook her head

"Tai? Your father?"

Another shake of the head.

"Ruby?" She added in desperation.

"No."

 _Shit_ She mentally cursed.

"Can you remember anything?" Raven asked, hoping for some kind of miracle.

"No." She shook her head again, her wide red eyes scared and confused.

Raven sighed loudly, understandably distressed by the news that the girl had amnesia.

 _I really shouldn't be too surprised_. She thought, _After all, she took a nasty couple blows to the head, not to mention and the trauma of it all, and the Rebirthing Ritual._

 _I need to think about this_. She thought, turning around to leave on a walk to clear her head.

She was stopped when she felt a weight on her leg.

"Don't go." The girl pleaded with wide eyes, latched onto her leg.

"I will return." Raven said coldly

 _Probably_

"Don't leave me, mommy!" The girl exclaimed, clenching tighter.

Raven froze, the words of the girl striking to her very soul.

" _What?_ " She questioned darkly.

"Y-you're my mommy, right?" the girl stuttered fearfully

"What makes you say that?" She all but growled.

"C-cause….cause you look like me. A-and you were here for me, and I-I just…" She rambled, clenching tighter and tighter, tears tickling the edges of her eyes, threatening to burst out.

"I just feel something about you. I just know you're my mommy!" She declared, a fiery determination and sureness in her eyes.

 _Perhaps not so weak after all_

"...Even still, i have to go." Raven lied. She didn't have to go anywhere. There was no one for her to see, she didn't need to get food, she was perfectly fine right here.

But the girl before her, her own daughter, gave her a discomfort she would do anything to avoid. Even while her heart kept aching, and her soul kept reaching out to the girl, her mind just couldn't handle it, didn't _want_ to handle it.

"No!" Yang cried, holding on for dear life, like Raven was her lifeline, and if she let go, she'd never see her again.

And she was right.

"Please!"

"Yang, I have to-"

"Don't leave me!" Yang cried tears streaming down her face.

"I-"

"You want to leave me. I know it, I can feel it. You just want to leave me here." She sniffled

"B-but I can't, I don't want you to leave me. I don't want to be alone." She whimpered, her grip loosening as she poured out her fear, her anguish, and her desperate plea.

She was desperate. She couldn't remember anything, her family, her home, her life, not even her own name. She had nothing, lost in a forest without anything to guide her. Then, this woman comes, one that looks like her, one that she feels a connection to, and for the tentative moment, she's not alone. She has _Something_.

But now, just as soon as she had seen her, her mother was trying to leave her. She wanted to leave her alone again, she was going to leave her to die alone in the forest.

And Yang...she would do anything to stop that.

Because nobody wants to die alone.

And Raven, slowly but surely, was crumbling to her whims. She had tried so hard to distance herself from this little girl, the only thing she really feared in the world, and she had failed. The girl had wormed her way into her heart right from the start. She had tried to hate her, to not care about her, to kill her, to watch her die, but she couldn't. She had tried to run from her, but she kept coming back, always watching over.

She loved this girl. From the very moment she saw her, she loved her. She'd never admitted it to anyone, not to Tai, not to Summer, not to her own brother, and certainly, not to herself. She was scared. She wasn't mother material, she knew what she was, what people thought of her. A monster in human skin, a demon, a killer, two steps away from being one of the Grimm she slayed. Qrow could blend in, he could be one of them, but Raven never could.

She could never really see herself as one of them, she never felt like she belonged. Tai, with his unending exuberance pushed past that, probably why she had the "fling" with him in the first place. But it wasn't love, it was a mistake.

And because of this, she was scared of being a mother, terrified even. She'd never admit it, never truly fully realized it, but that's what it was. She was sure that she would fail miserably, that Yang would hate her, that she would hurt her, that Yang could even die, or turn out an outcast like her.

That's why she stayed away.

Sure, she told herself it was because Yang was "weak", and that she couldn't be held down by a "weak" thing such as a baby. And, to a degree, it was true. These were ideals she had had when she was pregnant, and still had to an extent, but it's not what really drove her to do what she did.

But now, here she was, with her little girl right in front of her, begging for her to stay. Raven was all the little girl had, and she still wanted to run away.

Inside, she sighed in defeat.

 _I might not be a great mother_ She thought, her mind giving way to the desires of her heart and soul.

 _But what kind of coward would I be if I ran away from a little girl calling out for me_

And with that thought, she stopped and turned around slowly. Yang, surprised by the sudden movement, lost her grip and stumbled backwards. Raven crouched down to her daughter's level, and placed a steadying hand on the girl's golden mane.

"Ok." she said in a strained voice, trying not to let the weakness, the fear, the worry, the concern, the desire to just run far and fast from her, creep into her voice.

"Y-you'll stay?" Yang questioned with wide, innocent, fearful red eyes, still worried her mom would leave her here all alone.

"Yes." Raven said, forcing down the tightness in her throat, "I'll stay."

At that, Yang's scared face scrunched up, her lips pinching together as her eyes watered and tears flowed freely from them.

 _Oh no_ Raven thought, a spike of panic rising in her _What did I do? I tried to comfort her, and the first thing I do is make her cry aga-_

She was torn from her thoughts when Yang surged forward and tackled her in a wet, teary stained, hug.

"Thank you mommy." She mumbled into the crook of Raven's stunned neck.

Frozen, Raven took a second to mentally process what had happened, her heart and soul already knew as they thrummed in joy, filling her with a feeling she hadn't felt in a long, long time.

Answering the calls of her soul, she slowly wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding her tight, all the while feeling something... _right_.

"Yang…" She began, resolve building within her, devotion to right all the wrongs she had made, and fulfil her duty as a mother filling her.

"I swear…" She continued as she spoke words she meant with every fiber of her soul

"I will never leave you again."

* * *

 _A/n_

 _Metal:_

 _Tada_

 _it's done_

 _I know, it's a bit late_

 _but_

 _fuck it_

 _it's done_

 _and it's the longest chap for ABHFT yet_

 _And we passed the 10k word mark_

 _which is dope_

 _anyways, this is probably the most feels-y chap I've ever written_

 _ever_

 _I hope it's good, and not shit._

 _Contrary to popular belief, I actually like feels. I just like them well made, and not glossed over happy town little summaries._

 _I'm a depth person, and I hope this showed depth._

 _Though, frankly, I think I did a bit too much tell and not enough show._

 _Eh_

 _I might fix it later._

 _(probably won't)_

 _But next time we'll be looking at chap 5 with Red and the view of what was going on at the house with Qrow and Ruby(s) and Tai_

 _That should be fun._

 _So, tell me how I did with the feels trip, and, if you can, ways to improve, and what you think of the idea of Raven raising Yang in general._

 _Oddly enough, that's not a thing I've seen a lot of._

 _As in I haven't seen it at all._

 _Not that I consider myself an infallible expert._

 _But I've seen a fic with Jaune being raised by Raven, I think I saw one where Blake was trained by Raven, and that's basically it. Can't really think of anywhere Raven actually raises Yang._

 _Apparently, the idea of Raven actually raising her daughter is a strange one_

 _Who knew?_

 _I also hope I did a good job in doing Raven in general. We don't see a lot of her in the show. Less than a minute of screen time, probably, and she doesn't ever talk. All I really have to go on is other character's words about her, and a few of the ideas various FF's had about her._

 _Basically, I did the best with the shit I had._

 _Which wasn't much._

 _Anyways, that's enough outta me._

 _See you little shitstains later._


	5. Roses

**A Bleeding Heart for Two**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

 **Qrow pov**

He blinked away the tired look in his eyes as he saw one of the girls twitch from their deep slumber on the bed. He straightened up in the chair he currently sat in, waiting patiently for her to notice him.

After Qrow had brought the girls back from the forest and explaining the situation to Tai, he had brought the girls to the room Yang and Ruby had shared. Tai agreed to look over the girls while Qrow ran off in search of his lost daughter.

But as soon as Qrow came back empty handed, Tai silently stood up and walked away to, where Qrow assumed, was his room. Leaving the raven-haired man with two girls that mirror each other's appearance.

' _I understand that he lost the "love of his life"..._ _ **twice**_ _, but he should be here for the last remaining pieces of his family.'_ Qrow bitterly thought, _'I lost my_ _ **sister**_ _and…_ _ **Summer**_ _. Yet he doesn't see me isolating myself.'_ Qrow ignored the unwanted thoughts of his missing niece, not wanting to focus on that now.

' _Ruby… well the two of them, need you right now, you can't afford to be weak and emotional right now. You need to put on a comforting mask for them. Be their father for once.'_ Qrow pushed away his mixed feelings as one of the redheaded girls sleepily groaned and sat up.

"Mmm...Uncle Qwow?" Ruby #1 mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Qrow allowed a small smile to form on his face as he took in the peaceful look on her face. "What happen?" Even the way she spoke made him smile, but not for long as he registered what exactly she said.

Dropping his smile slightly, Qrow analyzed the childish innocence in Ruby #1's silver eyes. Those eyes hadn't seen the real world yet. Those eyes had looked at everything and seen the good in them. Those eyes cannot be tainted just yet. He'd delay that as long as he could. She deserved that much.

"Nothing you need to worry about, little red." Qrow spoke up in an unusually soft voice, bringing his hand up to rest on the redhead's shoulder. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

Ruby #1 shook her head after a short moment of silence, "I-I 'member Yang wunning away, and that's it…" tears formed in her eyes, "Did she leave me?" Qrow winced, quickly getting off the chair and on the bed, bringing the crying girl on his lap.

"No, no, I'm sure she didn't mean to leave you- I mean, she didn't leave you- Uh, it's okay...shh, it'll be okay." Qrow shushed the sobbing girl in this hands, patting her head comfortingly. He wasn't experienced in parenting, so he wondered if what he was doing was correct.

' _It just so happened to be me to take over while her other dad sobs with a tub of ice cream in his room while watching high school dramas and other kinds of soap operas.'_ Qrow almost chuckled, before remembering his current position.

He rubbed her back soothingly, letting her sobs quiet down slowly. "Everything will be okay, don't worry." Qrow whispers softly, keeping the young girl in his arms until she calmed her breathing and sniffled. He let Ruby #1 lay back down on the bed, relaxing almost instantly at the soft blanket on her bed.

That is until she noticed the similar looking being on her bed beside her.

" _Ahh!_ " Ruby #1 screamed in shock, abruptly waking up Ruby #2.

" _Ahh!_ " repeated Ruby #2, pulling the blanket up to her face.

"Why do you look like me?!" both of them shrieked at each other.

Qrow glanced between the both of them, shaking his head free of all confusion. _'You're the adult here, take charge and show that you have knowledge of something you obviously know nothing about. Goddamnit.'_ Qrow inhaled and exhaled, before grinning at the two before him.

"Don't worry girls! This is just, uh- Ruby, you got a new sis- Uh, ok- _You have a clone!_ Hahaha…" Qrow nervously laughed, eyes darting between Ruby #1 and Ruby #2's expressions rapidly.

"What's that?" Ruby #2 asked, tipping her head to the side like a curious puppy. Qrow opened his mouth before closing it again. He repeated that action multiple times before jumping on the bed.

Both Rubys yelped at the sudden action, suddenly Qrow brought both of them into a side hug.

' _Play it cool, play it cool, you know exactly what you're doing, you got this.'_ Qrow muffled a nervous laugh, "Ruby, this is your new sister, uh, um- Yin- no, uh- Scarlet!" He pointed at Ruby #2 while he looked at Ruby #1.

"..."

"..."

"YAY!" They squealed at a volume that threatened to make his ears bleed.

Their childlike mentality made it so that they didn't even look past the unexpected gift of having a new sister. Why would they?

They didn't know where babies came from. As far as they knew, this was normal. But more importantly, it meant they had a new sister.

* * *

 _I am going to die_ Qrow thought with a certain level of detachment. Like discovering the world had truly gone mad, and that there was no reason to concern yourself with sanity when nothing was sane.

 _These girls are going to be the death of me_ He thought as he looked at them, wrestling over each other in quite possibly the most adorable tangle of limbs he had ever seen.

They had quickly forgotten which one was the one he had named Scarlet, and gotten into a tiny little fight about who was named who. To be frank, even Qrow had lost track of who was who. There wasn't even a sliver of a chance he would be able to tell who the "original" and who the "duplicate" was. And that was assuming that there was an original and duplicate, and that both weren't just duplicates.

"I'm Scarlet!"

"No, _I'm_ Scarlet!"

"No, you get to be Ruby!"

"But You're Ruby!"

And so it went on, Qrow unable to take his eyes away from the painfully adorable sight, until finally, they settled it.

"Ok, so I'll be Scarlet, and you'll be Ruby?" Scarlet(?) asked

"Then next week we'll switch?" Ruby(?) verified.

 _Wait, what_

"You're going to switch names?" Qrow asked bewildered, and perhaps a little scared.

"Yeah, we're going to share it, just like you daddy always tell us to. It's only fair." Scarlet(for now) said

 _Oh my god no_ Qrow thought, the blood draining from his horrified face.

 _I will never be able to keep track of them_

"Hey, uncle qwow?" Ruby(for now) asked with wide and innocent silver eyes.

"Yes." Qrow said in a weary and distracted manner.

"Where's daddy?" Scarlet finished for her.

 _Shit_ Qrow flinched.

"Um...well...your daddy's….uh…" Qrow trailed off, trying to find a non-soul crushing way to explain that their father was now a broken husk of a man who was little more than an ice cream zombie.

Fortunately, he didn't have to.

"Daddy?" Ruby questioned, looking past him.

Sure enough, shambling past the doorway, was Tai.

In all his depressed glory.

He was wearing nothing but a pair of dark boxers and once white undershirt, now stained with booze and chocolate ice cream.

"Why does god hate me?" He moaned as he shuffled down the hall.

Ruby and Scarlet immediately jumped up off the floor they were sprawled on, and raced to the doorway after their father, with Qrow trailing behind.

"Daddy!" The new twins squealed at their father in tandem.

Taiyang slowly turned to them. His once lavender eyes filled with such warmth, love, and energy, now red and bloodshot. Tearstains streaked down his face, his once immaculate golden blonde hair now a stained mess.

He took one look at the twins, and burst into tears, running into his room with another fresh tub of ice cream in his arms.

The twins gave each other a concerned and surprised look for a moment, before running after him.

Tai slammed his door right behind him, shutting them out.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" They cried out, knocking on his door.

"Leave me alone!" He sobbed.

"D...Daddy?" They recoiled in surprise, unsure how to react to their once strong and kind father turned despondent and slovenly wreck of a man.

They were only greeted with the sounds of more sobs on the other side of the door.

"You're daddy's...not feeling so good right now…" Qrow said, shaking them from their thoughts as he finally caught up with them.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked with those oh so adorable and innocent wide silver eyes.

"Can we fix him?" Scarlet added, her face matching her twins.

Qrow sighed with a small, sad, smile. They really were too cute for their own good.

 _And still far too young and innocent for all this to happen to them_ He thought.

 _Losing their mother and sister within a year, with their father being all but dead to the world…_

 _They don't deserve this_ He thought with a shake of his head.

"Your dad just...needs some time." He finally said, searching for the right words.

"Oh…" They said in tandem, their heads lowering in sadness at the feeling of being helpless and abandoned.

Again.

At the thought of how everyone seemed to leave them, first mom, then Yang, now their own father, they couldn't help it. Tears welled up in their eyes, sniffles began to develop, and their bodies began to shake with emotional pain.

Qrow cringed, the sight of the twins about to break into tears a sight that got him right in the heart.

"Hey hey," He said, getting their attention as his mind scrambled to think of what to do to get their minds off the fact that he was effectively the only family they had right now.

"How about...we make some cookies." He said, his crimson eyes shining with inspiration.

"Cookies?" They said, looking up at him in confusion and interest, they're silver eyes still wet with unshed tears.

"Yeah! We have to celebrate your new sister, right?" Qrow announced

They both gasped, looking to each other in complete wonder.

"Yeah!"

"Cookies!"

They cried, looking up to him with their gleaming silver eyes.

"Right, so, what do you want?" He asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer as he lead them to the kitchen.

"Chocowate chiwp!" They responded.

"Oatmeal Raisin?" He questioned, suppressing a grin.

"What!" They screamed in horror

Qrow turned to look at them out of the corner of his eye, and had to resist the urge to clutch his chest, feeling that his heart might explode out of it.

"No, chocowate chiwp!" They cried in protest.

Their lips were jutted out just so, their bright silver eyes wide, wet and wobbly with unshed tears, the issue of chocolate chip cookies taken as seriously as life and death in their eyes.

It was, in a word, adorable.

In five, a sign of the apocalypse.

 _This is too much_ Qrow thought in horror, the power of their combined cuteness reflecting of each other.

 _One Ruby was cute, painfully so, especially because she looks so much like her mother, but two?_

 _That's the apocalypse._ He shivered

"Y-yeah, yeah, chocolate chip" Qrow said, still shaking himself out of the trance of their combined twin "kicked puppy" look.

 _I'll never be able to say no to them_ He thought

 _I just know those two are going to grow up into a pair of real heartbreakers._ He added, pulling out the ingredients.

 _And probably take over the world while they're at it_.

* * *

 _A/n: Metal_

 _Ok, so technically Red wrote most of this, but Red's a quitter who decided she need sleep (weakling) and so left the rest for me to finish._

 _And she also forgot to do the A/n_

 _So I had to finish it_

 _and let me tell you..._

 _I have almost no experience with "cute"_

 _like_

 _damn_

 _I felt so far out of my depth for this shit_

 _But I did it_

 _and I think it works_

 _hopefully_

 _if not_

 _well_

 _fuck_

 _but oh well, in any case, the next chap should (hopefully) be up in a week_

 _but it might not_

 _things have come up_

 _shit's happened_

 _life's come up and punched us all in the balls_

 _or female equivalent of getting punched in the balls._

 _See you later._


	6. Choice

**Blake pov**

She sighed and clenched her palms into a fist. She should be able to make up her mind by now, after all it couldn't be that hard to choose. They did save her from those wretched and disgusting experimentations. Without them, she was sure she'd be dead by now.

So why was it so hard to choose?

Blake's hands relaxed once again, another frustrated sigh echoing in the room.

After being saved by the White Fang, they had taken her back to one of their bases and gave her a room once being informed that she didn't remember her family or if they were even alive. Whether out of pity or a genuine want to help her, they had treated her with utmost patience and kindness, she even got delicious meals twice a day! (Something that rarely happened while in custody of Cerberus)

Unlike her cell while in Cerberus custody, the White Fang had given her a spacious room with a soft bed next to the wall, including blankets and even a desk that stored writing utensils and paper. She had taken up the hobby of doodling on the paper, it usually calmed her down and let her mind run wild.

It was a nice feeling.

And currently it wouldn't work.

Blake glared at the piece of paper smudged with eraser marks, almost as if expecting a beautiful piece of art to suddenly exist. She gripped the pencil hard enough to hear a harsh crack in between her fingers, followed by a sharp pain.

Yelping in surprise, Blake dropped the broken pieces of wood, revealing a small thin cut on her palm.

She stared at it as the cut immediately started healing itself, a purple wave covering the cut. Blake blinked.

That's right, she almost forgot.

The White Fang had explained to her what 'aura' and 'semblance' was. Apparently she had unlocked her aura and discovered her semblance at the same time. Something that was quite difficult without any training, they had stated.

The cut had disappeared, not even a scratch was left. Almost as if it had never happened. She still wasn't that used to being able to heal herself.

Blake finally stood up from the desk chair and walked towards the door. Enough was enough, she had to tell them what she wanted to do, despite still being conflicted on it herself.

After all, they had given her options.

 _'But it's not like I actually have much of a choice, they're all I have right now.'_ Blake bitterly thought, _'Cerberus took me away from my family, but the White Fang saved me, I owe them this much.'_ Blake closed her door behind her, taking determined steps down the hall.

 _'But they warned me that I'd never see my family again…'_

 _'No,_ _ **they**_ _are my family now.'_

 _'What if they're still looking for me?'_

 _'It's been years, they're probably dead or gave up searching.'_

 _'What if-'_

"Blake?" Blake was snapped out of her conflicting thoughts by a questioning voice in front of her. She looked up from the ground to see Adam a little further down the hall with a confused expression. "Do you need any-"

"Are you busy?" Blake interrupted, an idea forming in my mind. This just further confused Adam.

"Uh, not really..?" Adam slowly responded, "What-"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Blake shuffled her feet around, feeling a bit awkward for asking out of nowhere, especially since the two hadn't interacted as much after she was brought back to the base.

Adam looked around for the nearest clock, stared at it for a while, before turning back towards her and nodding.

* * *

"Is everything alright?" Adam closed the door behind him, leaning against it. "I heard about the rest of the experimented faunus."

Blake cringed, that wasn't exactly what she had wanted to talk about, nonetheless, it did worry her a bit. "Yeah, everything's ok. Just a little worried about… well, what might happen to me."

"Don't lose hope, we sure aren't. We won't lose you without a fight." Adam set a determined expression on, giving her the slightest bit of confidence.

If she were honest with herself though, she almost forgot about the faunus that had been rescued as well.

They all died later.

"Right."

They sat in silence for a while, both not sure where to continue from there.

"So, what'd you wish to discuss with me?" Adam awkwardly started the conversation up again, eyes darting around the room Blake brought them to.

She inwardly cringed again, "Well, I just- Uh, how did you join the White Fang?" Blake didn't bother asking why he chose to join, the reasoning for that is obvious.

Adam, red-marked mask removed for once, widened his eyes. Clearly he wasn't expecting this question.

"Oh, well, uh, I was born in the White Fang. Not that I didn't have a choice- I did! It just makes sense to be protect your kind, doesn't it?" He stumbled over his words, hands rubbing over each other in a nervous manner. "Humans always push us around. If they think we'll just stand around and take it, they're wrong."

Adam looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself. He narrowed his eyes and sharply lowered his eyes towards Blake. "Why are you asking?"

She let out an exhausted sigh, "I don't know if I want to join the White Fang." Adam blinked, before a look of understanding flashed in his eyes.

"It's about your family isn't it?" Adam softly said, his voice unusually comforting. "I'm not one of the best people to talk to about family, considering my family was murdered by humans," Blake's eyes snapped towards his in shock, "but I can give you some advice."

Adam got a hard look in his eyes, "Humans won't stop putting us down, they never would. Imagine all the lives you'd be saving, all the children who'd grow in a peaceful society," he walked towards the bed and motioned for her to sit next to him, "imagine no experimentations, because nobody would have any reason to. Everyone would be happy."

It seemed wonderful to Blake, everything being said is the perfect world she always imagined. She looked at Adam in awe as he continued.

"That's why I joined. I want that. I want a perfect world and I know you want one too. That's what'll happen if you join. Eventually we'll make it happen," Adam twisted around to look Blake straight in the eyes and gripped her hands, "But we need all the help we can get."

Adam smiled, "We'd be your family."

Looking at their conjoined hands, Blake didn't hesitate in her answer anymore. It was clear to her now what must be done. There wasn't another option.

"I'll do it."

Adam's smile grew toothy, throwing his arms around her in a hug. It surprised her since he rarely ever showed emotion in public, despite only being a bit older than her.

It felt nice.

"Welcome sister."

* * *

 _ **Alrighty, so this was a short af chapter and I apologize for that, I truly do. There wasn't much happening in this chapter, so sorry about that.**_

 _ **Oh yeah, my name is Red, I am the cool one of this collab. (aka, TheAngelWolf101)**_

 ** _This is also the first chapter that I finished all by myself, I am very responsible you see. I can totally handle finishing an entire chapter._**

 ** _Anyways, not much to say other than apologize for the shortest chapter to ever come from this story so far._**

 ** _Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, even though it was short and sucked._**

 ** _Red out~_**


	7. Dreams

A Bleeding Heart for Two

Chapter 7

Dreams

 _So this is what it's come to?_ She thought, reflecting on it all.

Glynda Goodwitch, just on a business visit in lieu of her lazy headmaster, had ended up stumbling into something she was not prepared in the slightest for. For all the horrors of Grimm she had seen, she had never seen such a heart wrenching sight herself. The scene of an entire family being torn open, eyes and hearts ripped out, and over it all, a young grieving survivor.

Yes…

 _Survivor…_ She pondered.

To be honest, Ms. Goodwitch couldn't be certain of anything. From what her experiences as a huntress told her, Ms. Nikos was just victim in an unexpected Grimm attack. But, in her time with Ozpin and Qrow, they all knew that things in this world weren't as simple as people liked to think, and that sometimes, powerful things lay in small packages. And taken from that mindset, a lone survivor of a girl, covered in blood, weeping over her brother's corpse was a bit suspicious.

The wariness didn't last, however. As those who knew her best could attest, Ms. Goodwitch was something of a bleeding heart, especially when it came to children. Her hard and stern air was mostly because of how much she cared, and how much she didn't want to see their potential wasted. So while the pragmatic Huntress aspect of her wanted her to be wary of the girl covered in the blood of her family, the true heart of Ms. Goodwitch's being melted at seeing the little girl crying out in sorrow.

So instead of driving a stake through the girl's heart, she had pulled the girl from her brother's corpse and held her as they waited for the authorities to arrive. The girl cried herself to sleep in her arms far before the police arrived, and in that time Ms/ Goodwitch decided not report her darkest suspicions.

And over 36 hours later, here she was, thinking about what to do next.

It turned out that all of the girl's family was dead. They weren't sure if there was any incredibly distant family members she still had, but as far as anyone could tell, all family connected to the Niko's household was gone. In the absence of next of kin, that meant she would be put in the Mistralian child services system, which made this whole thing worse.

Mistral, like Vacuo, suffered from severe overpopulation. While all Kingdoms had it to some extent, Mistral and Vacuo had it worst. As a result, they had massive slums filled with the poor and disenfranchised combined with thousands of orphans born either to parents who didn't want them, or to parents killed in the harsh life of the slums. Taking into consideration the life destroying events she had just experienced and the effect that would have on her, there was no it could end well.

Young Pyrrha was sure to be buried within the system, never to escape from it again. Without proper support in place to stabilize her after this event, who's to say how the terrible scars on her would develop as she grew to become a young woman? How would her potential as a person be ruined and squandered by this one night?

But….

 _There_ _ **is**_ _another option_ She thought, her face twisting into an uncertain frown as she reclined into the chair.

It was something one of the officers had brought up when she asked if there wasn't some other option.

" _Hey, lady, I get it, it sucks what's happening to this kid, but we can't really do anything about it. If you're so bent out of shape about it, why don't you adopt her yourself?"The officer rudely suggested_

 _And I could_ She thought.

To be honest, she wanted to. She had always wanted to have a child and raise a family. Unfortunately, life hadn't been so kind and forgiving, and it was impossible now. An old goal once thought out of reach, now placed back in her hands by the misfortune of fate. Sure, it wouldn't be her blood daughter, but if she was frank with herself, it didn't matter.

After talking with a few other people to make sure it was even possible, since she didn't want to get her hopes up, it turned out, not only was it legal and possible, but she was an ideal candidate. She had a well documented and sterling record, a history of dealing with children, and a, relatively, low danger job.

In fact, it was, apparently, a surprise to some at child services that she would want to do this at all. Most people tend to stay away from children like this, seeing them as "damaged goods" and "Problem cases.", words that made her blood boil. When combined with the fact that the likelihood of her ever finding a foster family able to deal with her baggage was so close to nil that even Ozpin would be hard pressed to entertain it, it almost made her choice easy.

But…

Then there was everything else.

She was a busy woman, would she be able to actually raise a child on her own? She sure as hell didn't trust Ozpin with a child. Despite being the headmaster of a school, he was more of a child himself, at heart. Whimsical, idealistic, lazy, and often times innocently arrogant, he would be a terrible parent. Despite what some people may think, Ms. Goodwitch and Prof. Ozpin did not actually have anything going on between them. True, they were friends, but Ms. Goodwitch would honestly rather marry Ironwood than Ozpin. For all that Ironwood was a military man and a brute, he at least saw things as they were and did his best to change them for the better, rather than just throwing together things so they looked good and having blind faith they would work out.

Shaking her head, she pushed the angry thoughts of Ozpin out of her mind, and refocused on the cons of all this.

 _What if she doesn't want me?_ She worried fearfully.

Truth be told, from an outside perspective, this was an easy decision. But, on a personal level, it was so much harder. This was a decision that would shape the rest of her life. Whatever she made, she would have to life with it for the rest of her life.

So, did she want to regret what she lost?

Or live in stressed out fear?

* * *

In another room, a girl was curled up in a bed in a temporary room they had given her, waiting to be told what was the next chapter in her life. She was lost, completely adrift. Everything she had known had been ripped from her. Her whole family was dead. She was told they had no place to put her, no other family to put in her care, so she would be taken up by child services.

She'd never be able to go back home.

She'd never see her family again, not even at their funerals. The bodies were considered too severely maimed for an open casket.

And all in all, she felt like she'd never smile again.

She didn't even feel angry or sad anymore.

Pyrrha Nikos just felt numb. She couldn't feel anything anymore, it was just too much for her. Not only was her family dead, but _she_ had done it. Something had killed them with her body, and she had watched and felt every moment of it. She was there when it ate her family too, and she could taste it as she took bites out of them, she felt it as they went down her throat, and worst of all, she felt it as the meat of her own family finally filled the hunger in her soul.

She was revolted and disgusted by herself, but, despite that, she knew deep down that it was one of the most satisfying experiences she's ever had. It was easily the best thing she'd ever eaten, and the only thing to ever actually fill her up. If it wasn't for the fact that it had been her own family, she'd be sorely tempted to do it again.

And that fact scared her. It tasted good, so good that, despite knowing how incredibly wrong ti was and feeling horrified by it, she was tempted to do it again, Not even the most horrifying and life changing event in her entire life could dissuade her from wanting more. Not quite right now, now she was sated, but she could feel it. It was returning, just as hunger always does.

In fact, that was probably the biggest emotion she was feeling right now. Fear.

What would happen next?

Would she be safe?

Did they know what she did? What that thing made her do?

Would that thing come back? Would it make her kill again?

Thoughts like that occasionally broke through the fog of numbness surrounding her mind, and put real fear deep into her heart. And it was all ended and punctuated with one chilling thought that she could never quite get out of her head.

 _Am I a monster?_

Pyrrha was torn from her thoughts for a moment when the door to the room cracked open. Peeking through the opening, one of the people in suits stuck their head in.

"Pyrrha, Ms. Goodwitch is here to see you, is that ok?" She asked in a soft voice, walking on eggshells.

All the girl could manage to do was nod. Seeing the response, the woman retreated back through the door, closing it, before it opened again. Ms. Goodwitch walked through this time. Still wearing the white shirt with black skirt and a cape over her shoulder. Her twisting blonde hair cascaded over her pale face. Bright, forest green eyes like her own resting behind a pair of slim glasses looked at her with soft sadness, but touched with hope.

"Hello, Pyrrha." She greeted.

"Hello." The girl managed to mumble out.

"How are you feeling?" The woman asked hesitantly, knowing how bad her situation was.

Pyrrha just shrugged, lacking the energy or enthusiasm to do anything more.

"...Pyrrha…." Ms. Goodwitch began awkwardly, unsure how to start this conversation properly.

"Do you know what's going to happen to you?' She finally asked, finding an angle to work through.

Pyrrha looked up at her worriedly, but slowly shook her head, no.

"Since you have no next of kin, you're going to be going into child service's hands." SHe explained. Carefully, trying not to upset or destroy her hope too much.

 _But_ Pyrrha thought _I don't think it can get any worse._

She was wrong.

"Unfortunately, because of Mistral's overpopulation clogging the system, it's doubtful you'll ever get the help you need. On top of that, because of how you got here...it's doubtful any family will ever want to adopt you, or be able to actually help you if they do." Ms. Goodwitch solemnly continued.

And with those words, Pyrrha felt a new level of crushing sorrow overcome her. She couldn't understand everything Ms. Goodwitch was saying, but she knew what she meant. She had no hope and no future right now.

"N-nobody wants me?" She all but sobbed, looking down toward the ground as tears began to spill from her eyes.

"No."

And with that word, the bed shifted, groaned, and sagged as a warm arm wrapped it's way around her shoulders. Startled, Pyrrha looked up only to see the lady that pulled her from the house that her family was murdered in, the lady she cried in the arms of for what felt like hours, the lady with bright green eyes just like her looking back down at her.

"I want you." Ms. Goodwitch announced, giving Pyrrha one more earth shattering revelation, but for once in this hellish time, good news.

"W-what?" She stuttered in shock.

"Pyrrha Nikos...I want to adopt you."

* * *

That night, Pyrrha Nikos went to bed with good feeling in her chest. The nice lady, Ms. Goodwitch, was adopting her. She had a future again, she had _hope_ again. She didn't feel so empty anymore, instead, a tiny nugget of happiness was growing inside her. She was currently staying in Ms. Goodwitch's hotel, sleeping in her bed while the nice Lady slept in a chair. When Pyrrha raised an issue about this, Ms. Goodwitch said she did something like this all the time, and that it was no big deal.

That was another thing, actually. She had actually asked Pyrrha to call her by her first name, Glynda, but Pyrrha was still getting used to that.

Still, all things considered, this was the first good moment out of a string of horror, sorrow, and chaos.

But, as she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, ti didn't last.

Moment's later, she opened her eyes and found herself somewhere….else. She was at some kind of beach, her toes digging into the cool sand. It was night out, the starry night sky cast over the whole world. In front of her, she saw ocean of dark water for as far as the eye could see.

" **Hello, child** " A voice behind her boomed. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with the strangest lion she had ever seen.

Behind her, a giant lion walked out of the forest with long, blood red fur and powerful green fires belching out black smoke in place of it's eyes. From it head sprouted two horns the curved around and wove through his massive and regal mane before turning upwards, resembling a crown. Behind it, a segmented tail ending in a viscous looking barb not unlike a scorpion swayed back and forth idly. On it's back were what looked like two dark colored folded wings.

" **My name, is Aslan"** He continued, his words matched with a firm look and punctuated by large fangs.

" **And we have much to discuss, vessel."**

* * *

 _A/n:_

 _Metaldragon 868: Well...it's been quite a long time._

 _This was originally going to be Dan's chapter, but_

 _well_

 _he fucked it up_

 _so I did it. And here it is. And hopefully we won't have a 4-month hiatus again_

 _Hopefully_

 _In any case, Pyrrha's life is fucked._

 _Oh, and apparently Blake does have parents, so that'll be a thing we'll have to deal with or avoid._

 _And Raven is from a bandit tribe of bird people._

 _Cool._

 _So hopefully I'll be posting again soon, for now, enjoy your Christmas._


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